"Shit," Varric said under his breath, holding his coat closed in the brisk weather. The crowd jostled around them, waiting for the Knight-Captain to show. The dwarf reached back and snagged the hem of Hawke's cloak, motioning to the templars. "Where's Blondie?"
"I don't know," she murmured, standing in the public square in Lowtown. She wrapped the scarf around her face to conceal her features. Spotting Aveline, she rapped Varric's shoulder and they wove through the murmuring crowd.
"Please, maintain your distance," the guard-captain said, lowering her hand as she recognized Hawke's eyes. "You shouldn't be here."
"You always say that," Hawke said, moving closer as Aveline walked them to the periphery of the crowd. "What is going on?"
Aveline looked pained as she kept Hawke's gaze, before glancing towards the wall, "You know the first of the month is when executions are."
"Now-a-days, yes," Hawke murmured, sniffling in the cold. "Ay me, the days when it was rare, I have grown bored with the ordeal."
"There," Varric said, drawing Hawke's gaze to the other side of the square.
"What is the crime?" Hawke demanded, drawing her friend's attention once more. "Please, Aveline."
Closing her eyes, the guard-captain hesitated before saying, "Abetting known apostates."
"Did he tell you," Hawke said to Varric, a furrow knitting her brow.
"Shit Hawke, I can't keep track of everything," Varric murmured as she pushed them away.
"Really, you often insinuated otherwise," she snapped back, following the edge of the crowd as they roused, the templars visible on the wall. Hawke scanned for Anders once more.
"I lost a bet?" Varric said, huffing as he tried to keep up.
"You don't lose bets," Hawke growled, looking back only a moment before she lost sight of Anders' feathery shoulders across the crowd. "Maker's fucking balls, Varric."
"Take it up with him," Varric countered, coughing lightly.
"It's on my list," she murmured, looking to where the trio of individuals were being led out. The crowd had quieted, listening as Knight-Captain Cullen read their crimes.
"For the wilful concealment of known apostates and the endangerment of the citizenry of Kirkwall..."
Hawke moved again, seeing Anders cloaked closer to the stairs, and she darted through the crowd, Varric struggling to keep up behind her. She caught his shoulder just as a Chantry brother read the first prisoner her rights.
"Anders, fancy seeing you here," she said, her eyes smiling.
"Hawke," his eyes drew to her, expression hard. "What are you doing here?"
In his distraction, the older woman on the wall was pushed over the edge, and the rope snapped taut, choking off her scream. Ander's head snapped back, his expression crushed as he saw the woman struggle, "No."
"Get her down," Hawke said to Varric, and he snapped Bianca free.
Staggering and clenching his fists, a vengeful blue fire licked up Ander's robes, and as Varric's bolt flew, a fireball followed and cracked against the wall in a flush of brimstone. The citizenry gathered crushed to the ground, and the ring of steel and screams filled the air. Across the crowd, another flare of light sparked and another, as the other hidden mages responded. One of the templars along the wall froze in place, and the commoners surged.
Hawke drew her blades, looking to where Anders had been - but the man had launched through the crowd, a crackle of magical energy fracturing the cobbles where another templar advanced. Cursing under her breath, she took the stairs, narrowly avoiding the blade of another templar. She turned and kicked him off the wall, before she ran to where the other prisoners were held.
"Halt, mage," the templar stammered as she approached, and Hawke snagged a throwing dagger from her hip and pegged him in the head. There was another burst of fire that made the wide wall beneath them tremble, and he crumpled.
"Not a mage," she whispered, jerking the blade from his bloodied face and kicking him off the wall before running to bound men. In the square below, people were scattering as the guard ushered them away. Hawke cut their bonds, hissing, "Follow me!"
Hawke fought to the base of the wall, another templar left wounded in her wake, and gathered up the body of the woman. Down amidst the crowd, Anders staff twirled, and a templar screamed as his eye-sockets burst from the lightning coursing through him.
"Anders!" she called, and when he launched another blossom of fire, she whistled sharply. He turned on her with an equal fire in his eyes, but she stood her ground. "Now!"
Varric seemed to have paid enough attention, and the guards hung back as they fled down an alley towards the docks. He held the grate as each apostate and prisoner slipped into the stench. Down into the middens, they ran until it was just the sound of their panting breath, stopping only when they'd reached somewhere not ankle-deep in the frozen filth.
Hawke shrugged to her knees, laying the body down, and Anders joined her, expression crushed as he touched the woman's cheek.
"There's nothing I can do," Anders said, closing her eyes. One of the other prisoners choked as the mage moved back.
"Penny..." the elderly man said as he gathered the woman up. "Blessed Andraste, how could they..."
Hawke looked as Anders turned away, following him up the path as he scarce acknowledged her. He was looking into the shadows.
"So were you planning on telling me what was happening?" she asked under her breath. When he didn't turn, she stepped in his way.
"No," Anders said, finally meeting her eye. "I thought it best you weren't here. Since you're the Champion and all."
"No shutting me out," Hawke said, her voice edgy. She snagged his arm as he closed his eyes, a lick of blue fire up his fists. Her voice lightened, "Hey, look at me. You got them. Two out of three is better than Fenris at Diamondback."
"But never good enough," Anders shook his head, the light fading as his breath shudder. He looked past her to the two men. "She's dead because of me. Because they protected me."
"She's dead because of the templars and Meredith," Hawke bit off the words. "Don't keep me from this. I'll help, love, you know that."
"I know," Anders said, his expression heavy. "And I am ever grateful."
"We'll get them out of the city," Hawke said, wiping over her mouth. "We'll get them to safety."